Fallon
by VividInfinity
Summary: Fallon has a hard past, but no one else knows it. Everyone knows her simply as Fallon, the girl with the sword.  Golden Age, EdmundXOC
1. Cheating

The fighting was hard.

It should have bothered me, but I was caught up in the fighting.

Everything seemed to blur around me, and I thrust my sword into too many opponents to count, too many lives torn away from bodies.

When it was over, I did what anyone would do.

I went to my tent, and I cried.

I rarely cried.

I could not count on one hand the number of times I had cried, but this was a serious battle.

I was a seasoned warrior, without hundreds of battles under my name, but this was the biggest I had ever been in, my first under Aslan, and I had been scared out of my wits.

I was a young girl, in a battle against warriors far older than I, but I was better than them, and that scared me.

My name?

Fallon.

My age?

Fifteen.

My hair color?

Dark brown, nearly black.

My eye color?

Blue-gray.

My past?

None of your business.

I was at the coronation of the Kings and Queens.

"To the Glistening Eastern Sea, I give you," He said, "Queen Lucy the Valiant."

And I thought, _What a mighty title for a child of ten years,_

"To the Great Western Wood," He continued. "King Edmund the Just,"

_The Just?_ I had thought. _Justice from a traitor, how ironic_. He was only thirteen.

"To the Radiant Southern Sun, Queen Susan the Gentle,"

I remembered seeing her in the battle, arrow after arrow lodging itself in enemy after enemy, and I thought, _For a girl of fifteen, to be gentle is a virtue_. One I did not have.

"And to the Clear Northern Sky, I give you King Peter, the Magnificent."

A seventeen year old boy as High King.

"Once a King or Queen of Narnia, Always a King or Queen," Aslan said to his chosen rulers. "May your wisdom brace us until the stars rain down from the heavens."

"Long live King Peter!"

We all cried.

"Long live King Edmund!"

"Long live Queen Susan!"

"Long live Queen Lucy!"

And that was the greatest moment in Narnian history, where all those in attendance were filled with pride for their country and for their newfound rulers.

I didn't see the Kings or Queens in person for a long time.

Not for a year, in fact.

Nearly on the dot.

I was away, and I will leave it at that.

It was a day that would change my life. I was in the practice courts of Cair Paravel, the ones outdoors.

I was sword fighting with a Centaur, with was simplified by both of us promising to use nothing but our swords, or else he would have had the advantage with four legs and two arms against my simple four limbs.

We were in the thick of it when the Kings and Queens arrived.

Everyone liked to watch people spar for practice, so I thought nothing of it when out of the corner of my eye I saw four figured enter.

I was a bit preoccupied.

I blocked my opponent's slash, and lunged. He swept my sword aside, and I dodged his next swipe. With another slash, we locked swords, and I stuck out my tongue. He grinned at me, and slashed at my head.

I ducked, and slashed as his legs.

He reared onto his hind legs, and when he came down he brought his sword, too.

Hard, onto my own.

My long hair came loose from its tie.

I held up the sword against his, until I felt him falter, the tiniest bit.

I broke off, spinning his sword away, and clanging across the practice floor court, where it lay as I pointed my sword at my defeated opponent.

He grinned, and surrendered.

I smirked, and stuck out a hand. Like a good opponent, he shook, and I sheathed my sword. I then accepted a drink of water from one of the small children whose duty it was to bring refreshments to the fighters.

"That was amazing," Someone said behind me.

I scooped my hair tie up from the ground.

"Glad you think so," I told the speaker.

I bent over, to fix my hair in a high ponytail. When I straightened, I pulled my gloves off, flexing my fingers.

"I'd like to try," The voice said.

"Really?" I asked, still looking forward. I untied my arm guards, and tied them again, tighter. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," the voice said.

"Good," I said, "Because there's no turning back."

With that I spun around and slapped the challenger across the face with my glove, a challenge.

I was staring into the face of King Edmund the Just, the best swordsman in Narnia.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty," I said. "Isn't it a lovely day?"

Queen Susan gaped at me from the sidelines. The Valiant Queen looked pleased, with her arms crossed and her face fixed in a grin. King Peter had one of those political poker faces on, nothing in or out.

"It is, my lady," He said, smiling, and I told him,

"I'm not a lady, Your Grace, and you've still time to back out,"

The Centaur I'd just beaten told the King, "Best back out now, lad, afore she skins you an' tacks yer hide on her wall,"

Someone else yelled out, "She's the best swordswoman in Narnia," And this was greeted with shouts of agreement.

Edmund had that annoying look that meant he knew something I didn't. "Then I'd love to try my luck,"

I shrugged. "Your funeral,"

I took my place in the center of the practice courts.

"Do you want to do this practice style?" I asked, pulling on a glove, "Or battle style?"

"Which one lets me kick and stuff?" The King asked.

I was now fifteen, same age as him, and so I grinned. "I'd like to wake up tomorrow with as little bruises as possible,"

He raised an eyebrow, "So . . .battle style?"

I smiled. "You got it," And I brought my sword down on where his head was.

He dodged it, I knew he would, but that wasn't the point.

He spun out of the way and slashed and me, but I blocked it, and swung at him again.

The King and I locked swords, and I broke out first, jumping up to flip backwards and knock my feet into his face.

"Edmund!" Someone screamed, one of the Queens I think, but Peter stopped her.

I crouched, and swung my feet around to swipe her out from under him, and he crumpled to the ground.

I could feel Narnians around me tense, ready to aid their King, but I knew they wouldn't until it was absolutely necessary. They were commoners. Pride was something they understood.

I raised my sword and brought it down. Edmund blocked it, and rolled away. I let him.

The battle wasn't over yet.

"You're good, I'll give you that," He said, getting up.

"Thanks ever so, Your Lordship," I teased with a smirk, twirling my sword in one hand, the other on my hip.

"You're welcome," He said, and lunged.

I sidestepped it, and swung. He parried, and our swords clashed again and again.

The King swung at my head, and I ducked, and swung at his feet. He jumped.

We locked swords.

He had the advantage of size, being a few inches taller than me. I had the advantage of strength. I had been doing this since I could hold a sword proportional to my size.

We both acted at the same time, spinning our swords,

And both swords flew, in opposite directions across the courtyard.

We grinned at each other. "Call it a draw?" The King offered.

I stuck out a hand. He took it, and ducked under my arm, twisting it behind me back the way an arm is not supposed to twist.

I twirled, using his weight against him to throw him off me. "That's not nice at all," I scolded him as I threw him away from me. "People might think you're rude,"

He tried my own trick, swiping my legs out from under me, and I kicked him in the stomach, propelling him back a few feet.

Getting up, I lunged at him, and he blocked me. I revealed my true intention, spinning to pin his arms behind his back, and knocking him to his knees.

"I win," I said cheerfully.

Everyone around me looked shocked. I had King Edmund the Just on his knees, his arms pinned behind his back.

"Good for you," He said. "Can I get up now?"

"Nope," I said. I held out a hand behind me, because I knew someone will have retrieved his sword.

I pressed it into his hand. "Now you can get up, I said, and someone passed me my own weapon. I sheathed it, and the King got to his feet.

I held out a hand, ready to throw him across the court. "I win," I said with a smirk.

He glare-smiled, and shook with me.

"What's your name?" He asked me, as the crowd dispersed to watch other courts.

"Fallon," I said. I peeled my gloves off, and grabbed my bag from the edge of the court.

"Nice to meet you, Fallon," The King said.

"Likewise," I said. I thrust my gloves into my bag, and untied my arm guards.

The youngest Queen came over. "That was amazing!" She grinned at me. "Could you teach me to do that?"

I put my arm guards into my bag. "I don't know, Your Majesty, I've spent years learning to swing a sword, since I could hold one,"

The Queen didn't seem fazed. "That's okay,"

"I didn't know there were other humans in Narnia," The eldest Queen came over, her brother, too.

I untied my hair, letting it fall to my waist. "Yeah, well, there's plenty of things Your Majesties don't know,"

I shrugged.

"Like what?" the High King asked. "What could you tell us that we don't know?"

The list goes on forever, but at that moment, I only scoffed. "I don't talk to the nobility," I said. "Not as a general rule." I shouldered my bag.

"You're talking to us," Lucy pointed out.

"I said, not as a general rule," I pointed out. "I've gotta get home," I said.

"Oh yes, your family will probably be missing you," the Gentle Queen said.

There is virtually nothing anyone can say that can hit me harder.

"Don't got a family, do I?" I said grimly, walking away.

"Where do you live, then?" I heard Lucy ask behind me.

"Wherever life takes me," I called back.


	2. Court

I'd see them again soon enough.

That was how Fate worked. It wasn't enough to have one chance meeting. No, I just had to meet them again.

But this meeting wasn't nearly so strange. It was still strange, mind, just . . . in a different way.

For one thing, I was at a bar.

Not just any bar.

An underground bar, a hidden bar, because more Narnians didn't do drinking so well.

But I'm only human, so I asked the Faun for a tankard of the best ale in Narnia.

Never saw that part in the stories, did you? Where the heroine sits down to get drunk as hell, and beat up any guy who thinks she's looking for someone?

Nope, never hear that part in the stories.

Well, this time I only had to beat up two guys before I noticed something momentous.

You know Queen Lucy? The Valiant?

Well, she ran into the bar, chased by a few men. She wore the clothes of a commoner, and moved too fast for most to see her face. Being chased into a bar was a common enough affair, so no one did anything.

I did. I got up, grabbed my tankard, and walked over.

"Hello boys," I said, a hand on my hip. "What are you chasing her for?" I demanded.

Lucy took shelter behind me. The leader growled at me,

"No business of yours, lass," He said, and eyed Lucy.

"I beg to differ," My clear voice rang out through the bar. "It is very much my business, mister,"

And with that I kicked him backwards into a pair of drunken men.

In the madness that ensued, Lucy and I were able to escape.

We weren't far from Cair Paravel, so we began to walk.

"Thank you," Lucy said. "I guess,"

"You're welcome, Your Majesty," I said.

"Call me Lucy," She said.

I grinned at her. "Okay, Lucy,"

There was silence for a while as we walked. The air was cool, the perfect temperature, and the sun was about an hour before setting.

"He's been looking for you, you know," Lucy said.

"What?" I was a little bit stunned. "Who?"

"Edmund," She said matter-of-factly. "He's been looking for you. It's been a month. The coronation anniversary's in a few days. He hasn't seen you since you sparred with him."

"Yeah, well, I've been busy," I said, and kicked a pebble. We were nearly at the castle gate. "Don't ask what, and I won't ask what you're doing outside Cair Paravel without your Court."

"Fair enough," Lucy nodded. At the gate, the Faun on guard stopped them.

"It's alright, Cadmus," Lucy said. "It's me, and this is my friends Fallon,"

The Faun nodded, bowed, and let them in.

Inside the Throne Room, three worried siblings got the their feet, what seemed like a hundred courtiers turned around, and three worried Kings and Queens stopped in their tracks as they saw Fallon.

"Leave us, please," Susan commanded-asked the courtiers. They nodded, and left, shuffling out the door.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Susan crossed the hall to grasp Lucy by the shoulders, "What happened, Lucy?"

"It's alright, Susan," She said. "Some people were chasing me, but Fallon stopped them,"

"Oh," Susan said. She looked up at me.

"She's a hero then," Peter observed, coming over.

"I prefer 'heroine,' Your Majesty." I said. "Hero sounds so stuffy."

Edmund came, too, looking very Kingly.

I know, such description, right?

"Where were you, Lucy?" Susan asked.

I answered for her. "A bar," And I smirked at the Kings and Queens' faces.

"What were you doing there, Lu?" Peter asked.

"I told you, some men were chasing me," Lucy said. "But Fallon stopped them."

They looked at me. "You're welcome," I said. "Now, if you don't mind Your Majesties, I'll be leaving now."

I spun on my heel, and began to walk out, my footsteps sounding against the floor and echoing in the hall.

"Wait, Fallon," Peter called behind me.

It was an order, so I sighed and stopped.

"Yeah, Your Majesty?"

"Come back,"

I spun, and walked back, muttering bad things under my breath about Kings.

"Yeah, Your High-Kingliness?" I asked.

Peter made a face. "Don't call me that. It's just Peter, please."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself. What do you want?"

Lucy elbowed me. "Be nice," She whispered.

"We would like you to stay with us for a while," Susan said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Beg pardon?"

"You are the only other human we know of in Narnia," Peter said. "We think there is much that can be learned from you,"

I shook my head. "I'm no lady to live in castle, Your Majesties. There's too much about me you don't know."

I started to walk away again, but Lucy caught my arm

"_Please_, Fallon?" She asked, and she still looked so young and sweet it was hard to refuse.

I sighed. I told the Kings, "I'm not going to be studied like some rare bug, got that?"

They grinned, and nodded.

"Is there anything you need, from home?" Susan asked. "We can send someone to go with you and get it."

I shook my head. "Everything's right here," I patted the bag at my side.

Susan nodded. She turned to her brothers and sister. "I'll find her a room," They nodded, and Susan grabbed my arm, and began to tow me through the castle.

"These are your chambers," Susan said, showing me to a gorgeous selection of rooms.

"Your Majesty, I really don't need all this," I said. "What'll I do with three rooms?"

"What everyone else does," Susan said. "Sleep in one, closet for another, living room for another."

I looked around at the rooms. "What do I do now?"

Susan laughed. "You put your things in the closet, and come down to meet the court. I can lend you a dress,"

I shook my head vehemently. "I don't do dresses, Your Majesty."

"Call me Susan, Fallon," She told me. "I think we're friends enough to call each other by our first names."

"Me, calling royalty by their first names?" I snickered. "Me friends're rolling over in their graves."

"They're dead?" Susan asked, horrified.

"Most of 'em," I said, dumping my bag on the bed. "Didn't like most of 'em. Traitors, vagabonds, you know the like."

Susan seemed a bit dazed. She shook it off, and said, "Well, come down as soon as you can, but you'd better change first,"

I grinned, and nodded. My clothes were dirty, from the walk in the woods and splashes of drink from the 'fight' in the bar.

Susan nodded to me, and left.

I changed into men's clothes. I always thought men's clothes were more comfortable than dresses and skirts.

I wore a cream shirt, with a green tunic and brown leggings and my best boots.

I brushed my hair long and loose to my waist, and buckled my sword. This was a game of power, show, talent. So, I hid daggers in my forearms under my shirt sleeves, and small ones in my hair disguised as pins. I slipped one into a sleeve hidden in my right boot, and another in my left. I put one in plain sight, at my belt, and hid one more in my belt buckle. Three more, one at the nape of my beck, and two hidden underneath my arms completed the outfit.

I was ready for Court.

So I raced down the hallways and corridors of Cair Paravel.

The Throne Room was once again full of courtiers, men and women of all ages, but mostly the Kings and Queens' ages.

Except, no one was Lucy's age. I could see her sitting on her throne, fiddling with her dagger.

But when the doors opened, and I entered, everyone looked up, to find a girl dressed as a boy.


	3. Lord SomethingOrOther

"Lady Fallon," Peter greeted me. The Kings and Queens rose from their thrones.

I put a hand on my hip. "Didn't I tell you I'm no lady?"

"A commoner?" Someone whispered.

"Well, we can't all be blue-bloods," I addressed the whisperer loudly. "After all, if we were all blue-bloods, who'd be the commoners?"

The whisperer, a tall man, frowned at me.

"Fallon, allow me to introduce everyone."

Originally, there had seemed to be around twenty courtiers, but I found that many of them were servants, or handmaidens.

Other than that, there were five men, and six women.

The youngest was a girl just my age, who was flirting with Edmund, who looked uncomfortable.

I looked around. Everyone had returned to their business, and I was examining the man who had called me a commoner.

"Lord Gray of Red Vale," a voice said in my ear. "Not one you want to make an enemy of,"

I turned around to face the speaker, a girl a few years older than me.

"Well, if you don't make a few enemies now and then, you're a coward, or worse," I said.

The girl curtsied.

"Don't," I said. "I'm not the type of person people curtsy to."

The girl smiled. "I am, but I hope you won't,"

"Deal," I said, and stuck out a hand. "Fallon,"

"Ria, Princess of Archenland," She shook hands with me. "I'm to marry High King Peter,"

I raised my eyebrows. "You're eighteen?" She didn't look it.

"Seventeen," Ria shrugged. "My parents need the alliance with Narnia, and Peter is sweet."

I looked at Peter, who was staring at Ria. "I think he likes you, too,"

Ria smiled. "I'd hope so, or else I'd be marrying someone who can't stand the sight of me." She peered at me. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you dressed like a boy?"

"It's much more comfortable," I said.

Ria gaped at my sword. "Can you use that?"

I grinned. "'Course I can, silly. Why else would I have it?"

Ria smiled. "Could you use it against Kind Edmund?"

"Already have,"

Ria gaped at me. "And you beat him?" She whispered.

"It was a draw," Edmund said, coming over. Ria curtsied, I didn't.

When they both looked at me, I crossed my arms.

"It was a draw, sure enough," I said. "Until I won,"

"The sword fight part was a draw," Edmund corrected. "The hand to hand fighting was when you won,"

"Only because you cheated when we called it a draw." I teased. I asked Ria, "Is there anyone else who's half good? I feel like a bit of sword fighting right now,"

"You? A girl?" Lord Gray came over, his shadow falling over our conversation, both figuratively and literally. What can I say? He was a tall guy.

"Yeah, I bet I can beat you," I said cheerfully.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," He said. "I'm a terrible swordsman." He leaned forward. "But can you beat me throwing knives?"

I smirked. "Just watch me,"

Ria, very different from any other royal person I've known or heard of, turned to the courtiers, and announced. "Everyone! Fallon and Lord Gray are going to have a knife throwing competition!"

We all ran out to the practice courts. Actually, Ria and I ran. Lord Gray pranced, and the courtiers practically slithered behind the Kings and Queens.

Everyone was buzzing, chattering, gossiping, wagering as we picked a knife throwing court.

"Three knives?" I offered.

"Fair enough." Gray said. "But not your own,"

A young lord walked with me to help pick out three knives. He said his name was Simon.

"You can't beat Gray," He warned me as I fingered a knife. "He's the best there is in Narnia, and you're just a girl,"

"You must tell Queen Susan that sometime," I said, and picked up another knife. "I'd do it from a distance."

I replaced the knives, and it was a few seconds later when he spoke again. "Girls aren't up to the hard military life,"

"I am," I said, "I've been doing this since I could walk."

"I hope you lose," He told me when I had my three knives. I know he didn't mean it, that he was just trying to win the conversation, so I said,

"I thank you for your kind wishes,"

I took my place ten feet before target.

Gray stood beside me, a few feet off.

"Ready for this, girl?" He asked, twirling a knife in his hand.

"Depends," I said, juggling my own three knives. "Are you?"

For an answer, he threw his first knife, hitting just outside the bull's eye.

"Not bad," I sneered, and threw my first. It hit the bull's eye, just off-center.

Gray growled. His next knife hit the bull's eye, square in the center of his target.

I laughed, and turned around to face the onlookers.

My eyes met Kind Edmund's, and I winked at him, and threw my knife over my shoulder.

It lodged itself in the center.

I had won.

But all I did was retrieve the knives, put them back, and stick out a hand to Gray.

"Commoner scum," He spat at my feet.

"That's awfully rude," I told him. "People will think you're not a blue-blood after all,"

"You're no blue-blood yourself," He sneered. "You're lower than a commoner. I've heard of you, Fallon, and what you did,"

This started people gossiping.

"10 out of 10 for observation," I said. "It's good to know some people keep their ears open."

"Traitor," Gray growled, and disappeared into the crowd.

The courtiers were murmuring, muttering, gossiping about me.

"What did he mean?" Someone called out.

"Not any of your business, is it?" I demanded, and headed for my room.

"Fallon, wait!" I heard the High King behind me.

But the boy that came running after me was not the High King. It was Edmund.

"Walk with me?" He asked, and I nodded.


	4. Her

As we strolled through the gardens, Edmund told me, "What did Gray mean by calling you a traitor?"

I kicked a pebble in the path. "My past is my business, not yours,"

"But I'm the King," Edmund said. "And more importantly, the judge of such things. Why did he call you a traitor?"

"I've redeemed myself," I said. "That's all there is to it,"

"We both know that's not true."

I sighed. "What do you want from me, Your Majesty? A confession? A sob story?"

"No, just your past," Edmund said, peering at me. "I'm not stupid; I know there's something you're not telling me."

"I heard you were a traitor once, Edmund," I said carelessly. He stiffened. I continued. "The people are unsure."

"Of what?"

"Well, there are generally four castes," I told him, "There's the commoners, the peasants, the free servants and such,"

"There's the middle class, the craftsmen and merchants and knights and things," Edmund continued. "And then the royalty,"

I nodded. "You and your brother and sisters,"

"What's your point?" Edmund asked me.

"There is one more caste." I told him. "The caste reserved for criminals, slaves. Traitors," I breathed in. "You and I belong to that caste, Edmund, but you belong to two castes. The highest and the lowest."

"What does that make me?" Edmund asked.

"A Traitor King, to some," I said. "A Wise and Just King to others."

"And what are you?" Edmund peered at me.

I picked a flower from the garden. It was a rose, and the thorns pricked my fingertips, but I couldn't care less. "A traitor," I said, twirling the rose in my fingers. "To some, the enemy," I dropped the rose.

"What did you do?" Edmund asked me.

"None of your business, Edmund," I said sadly. "And I wouldn't tell you if it was,"

Edmund led me to a bench, where we sat, and he said, "Is your past very horrible?"

I scoffed. "More horrible every day,"

"You said you had no family?"

"I meant it," I told him. "No one." Fingering my sword hilt, I told him. "It's all fine and dandy to be talking about me, but what about you? What's your past like?"

"Nothing at all like yours, I bet,"

I smiled. "I can believe that."

So he told me all about his past, about a place called England, and a wardrobe in another world.

When Susan's voice rang through the gardens, calling, "Ed! Where are you? Edmund!" He took off with a polite goodbye, and I sat on the bench and polished my sword.

I was almost done when a dryad materialized before me.

"What were you doing with the King?" She asked.

"Hi, my name's Fallon, what's yours, nice to meet you, too," I said cautiously.

"Willow. What were you doing with the King?" She repeated her question.

"Talking,"

"Stay away, Fallon," She warned. She crossed arms that weren't there. "The King is not yours,"

"He's not yours, either, is he?" I put my sword away, and stood. "Nice to meet you, Willow, but goodbye,"

"Stay away from the King, Fallon," Her voice hissed in my ear. "Stay away, he is mine!"

I rolled my eyes. Dryads, especially _that_ dryad, were rather possessive.

In my rooms, I found Lucy waiting for me, with Susan and Peter. Edmund was there, too, but he looked more relaxed than his siblings.

"Oh for the love of—" I closed the door.

"Fallon, who are you?" Susan asked me.

I went over to a small table, and began to take off all my knives, one at a time.

"I'm a girl," I said. Off came the knife at my belt. "I'm fifteen," The knives at my forearms. "I'm human," The knives in my boots.

One by one, I piled them on the table, high, and the Kings and Queens raised their eyebrows higher each time I pulled another knife out.

"But where are you from?" Peter pressed. "What is your past?"

"My own business," I said. "Believe me, Your Majesty, you don't want to know my past,"

"Why not?" Lucy asked, not understanding that some things were best left secrets. "What your past bad?"

"Bad doesn't begin to cover it," I said grimly. "My past is no bread and salt of yours, Your Majesties,"

"She's like me," Edmund said quietly. His siblings looked at him, and I didn't dare. I unbuckled my belt, and placed it on the table with my knives. "She's a traitor to Narnia,"

"A reformed and redeemed traitor," I said, "And still none of your beeswax,"

"What did you do to be called a traitor?" Peter demanded. "You're only fifteen,"

I gaped at him, and laughed. "A traitor at _only_ fifteen?" I laughed again. "So is Edmund, and Lucy is a Valiant queen and she's eleven. You're High King of Narnia, a Knight, an Emperor, a Lord, at eighteen." I grabbed a brush and attacked my hair. "Don't talk to me about age."

"But what did you do?" Susan demanded. "Where's your family?"

I froze. No one ever dares to talk to me about my family.

"Susan," Edmund hissed. "She already _told_ you, she hasn't _got_ a family,"

"But what happened to them?" Susan pressed.

"My mother was murdered," I said, staring at myself in the mirror as I brushed my hair. I didn't turn around to look at my monarchs.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said.

"Don't be. She was a terrible person," I said, and clenched my fist around my brush.

"Fallon!" Susan admonished. "You shouldn't talk about dead family like that!"

"I'll do as I please," I growled, furiously calm. "It's _my_ mother, much as everyone hated her,"

"What was her name?" Lucy asked gently.

I swallowed. I remembered the name my mother had been born to, before she changed it. "Arabella," I said. "Her name was Arabella, but she didn't like it, said it was too gentle and soft, so she changed it,"

"And your father?" That was Peter.

"I never knew him," I said, pulling the brush through my hair. "Never even knew his name."

"How did your mother die?" Susan asked.

That was one question too far.

"I think I'd like some time alone," I announced, putting my brush down. "Without questions,"

The Kings and Queens nodded. "Dinner will be soon," Susan said. "We dine without the Court, just do you know." She hesitated. "I'll send someone,"

And they left.

I sat on the couch, and put my head in my hands.

The memories. They swamped me. Memories were powerful. They were the instruments of Time, because without memories, you didn't grow old. Memories build up over time, and eventually, you get enough behind you for years, and you grow.

My mind grew faster than my body, it seemed. I was still a fifteen year old girl, but it seemed like my mind raced with those far older in wisdom.

"It was _her_, wasn't it?" a voice came. Edmund. He was still in the room.

I looked up.

I bit my lip.

I nodded numbly. His face was blank of any expression.

He nodded to me, and got up. Heading for the door, his hand was on the knob when I said, "Edmund?" He froze. "Please, don't tell your brother and sisters,"

The King nodded, and left.

I sat on the couch, then moved to the bed, and I wanted to cry.


End file.
